Articles 20VN | Being a Good Fencing Training Partner - Drills ...

Structured drills are an important part of any fencing training program. When I watch drills I often see fencers going through the motions, but not really doing useful training. A fencing master can describe the technique in detail, demonstrate it, and correct your performance. But in a large class he or she cannot be everywhere with every student all of the time. That means that the responsibility for successful learning for you and your training partner rests on you.

Fencers, like everyone, will often take the easy way out in a training drill. This is basic human nature. But the results are not pretty:

... attacks that are not realistic - the blade is served up so that the partner can easily perform the technique.

... actions that are wide of the target or pulled back so that they cannot embarrass the partner by hitting.

... actions that start slow, nowhere near competition speed, and stay slow throughout the drill.

... actions that are deliberately short, often delivered from medium distance.

... lines left open, arms only partly extended, legs move before arms in attacks, etc.

Unfortunately this is both a waste of time and a way of cheating both yourself and your partner of important opportunities to learn and perfect your technique. Let's look at the purpose of a drill. It is simple - by repetition to build your ability to execute the specific skill with technical perfection under bouting conditions against an opponent who has every intention of beating you. That means that the drill has to simulate combat:

... actions are deep and fast and powerful with every intention of connecting. Obviously you may start the drill slowly, but even with slow actions delivery should be to hit.

... actions are delivered so that they will be difficult to parry or control, on target, directly, with no extraneous movement.

... actions capitalize on opponent errors. If the blade position is not correct, or there is a hole in the guard, go through the hole.

To use a drill for all it is worth, you have to understand that both fencers should work to execute realistically. An attacker should try to hit, even if the goal is to work on parry-riposte skills. A defender should attempt to parry even when the drill focuses on an attack. Both fencers should work from a realistic distance. Using this approach both fencers receive training regardless of whether they are executing the skill focused on by the drill.

If you do not do this, you are actually teaching your nervous and muscular systems to neither defend yourself nor hit the opponent. We fence in the bout exactly the way we train in the lesson. So be a good training partner - maximize your training and your partner's training by drilling the way you should fight.

Source: http://www.20vn.com/recreation-sports/being-a-good-fencing-training-partner-drills-82b.htm

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